Touch of Fate
by Dracomancer
Summary: Within the human realm exists a girl who sought and obtained demonic power and now runs from her scientist master only to fall into the hands of one son of Sparda. What will he do with her?
1. Interception

**Welcome to my DMC fanfiction series.**

-My DMC fanfiction series did not start out like all my other series. It first started as Dante x Nero yaoi fanfiction with the stories The Reunion and Save Me, at the time motivated to write my very first Yaoi fanfiction, but due to Capcom completely tossing what they originally had going with DMC out the window, I am forced to run with the most common theory out there; Nero is Vergil's son. Because of this, the idea of Dante banging what is most likely his nephew? I can't stand it. Yaoi is one thing but incest? NO. I'm not into yaoi incest (DantexVergil being the only exception, but still not really into it). So I am **re-inventing the stories in my series**; "Save Me" and "Doppelganger", _completely removing the yaoi_ in it between Dante and Nero.

The stories "The Reunion" (DantexNero) and "Love and Hate" (DantexCredo) will remain on my accounts since I went through the trouble of updating them, but they have nothing to do with my actual DMC fanfiction series and no more will be written for these pairings. Thanks to Capcom I've lost touch with the aspect of these pairings anyway and am now sticking to the original ideas I had for my series that both involve Vergil's return to reality and my original character, Vincent (who is already known by my readers).

With the DmC out, I might start writing for that too, but until then things are gonna change around a little so bare with me.-

**Interception**

In a world full of humans that coexist with demons, reality had become quite shrew. A human death caused by demons was a common affair. With the ability to conceal their demonic form into the appearance of a human, demons could easily roam about the Human Realm with ease; killing, devouring and taking as they pleased. Reality to many was bleak in measure for who would know who was a demon…

…and who _wasn't?_

Who could you trust?

Where would you go for help?

But most of all, how can you protect your family let alone yourself?

Questions like these haunted the Human Realm like a predator in the night, but for one such as Vincent Darengir, that reality was but a fantasy. Having become half demon, spotting out other demons was like hunting for fish in a barrel. With altering her humanity she could now protect that which is most precious to her, her father. And with the power to protect her father, she could now protect herself, but being half Human completed her for she had what demons lacked most…

…love.

Demons lacked humanity and because of this it made her stronger. However, she was not born half demon. She _chose_ to be this way. She _chose_ to take action. In an age of technological and scientific advances, anything was possible. All that was needed was an idea and the rest, making that idea a reality. For Vincent the idea was to never become a victim, but in doing so she made herself a target as well, for a choice never comes without consequence and now she was forced to go into hiding at the age of 21.

Having moved to a new city with her father, she found leads to a scientist named Arkainius that specialized in control of demonic powers, utilizing the power and placing it into other beings. This was of great interest to Vincent, but at what cost?

Consequences….

…so _many_ consequences from a decision such as this.

To give up your own humanity and become the very thing that hunted on society was not a simple thing to do, but was it wrong? Was it wrong to desire to protect those close to you? No, it wasn't. It wasn't wrong at all and it didn't matter. It didn't matter what society would think if they found out she was half demon, it didn't matter if she would be an outcast, not as long as she could protect her friends and family. And so, after a long time of reminiscing, she went to Arkainius and willingly became his experiment. Endless nights of pain and medications, testing, trial and error had come upon her for the span of a year. It was within that span of time that she quickly learned Arkainius was a demon himself, but that didn't stop her from making her goal a reality. It was either adapt...or _die._

Even though Arkainius was a demon, he was not heartless like most demons. He did not lack the basics of gentleness and compassion. After all, Vincent was his willing subject so it was not beneath him to make things as comfortable as possible for her. He never went out of his way to make things more painful than they already were or to prolong the processes of his experimentation. He did what was only necessary, but his kindness was to a fault. After being with him for such a long time, Vincent eventually learned that Arkainius had _other plans for her_, plans that interfered with her own goals and would eventually take her away from her father _forever_. Eventually she would have to escape before it was too late.

Time continued to flash forward as her demonic powers were beginning to become more under her control. Her powers came from the entity of multiple different demons put together as one, and so the abilities of each of those demons collected uniquely into one useful power, and that was the control of energy itself. However, scientifically energy can be manipulated, but not destroyed, so Vincent had to find ways to utilize the use of energy particles out of already existing objects or beings. This did not prove difficult however since everything is nicely collected into a mass of energy, either kinetic or potential. She began to learn how to morph the energy inside an object to make it explode or implode. She also learned how to transfer energy from one object into another and this in turn became a form of healing or reconstruction, but transferring energy was much more difficult and took a great deal of her own energy in order to do it.

Developing her powers within a decent amount of time was noteworthy, but had consequences just like her decision to go to Arkainius for help. Because she wasn't naturally born half demon, her body would try to fight off the demonic blood in her and every time she used her powers to an extensive deal, it would backfire on her from bodily exhaustion, to the most common side effect, temporary blindness and bleeding from the eyes, but that wasn't the _only problem._ Arkainius was not his own boss for he was created by another, a demonic lord by the name of Valkin. Many of Valkin's strongest minions were always cut down by the demon hunter, Dante, a son of Sparda and Valkin wanted him dead, with his head brought to him on a platter. Because the experiments were going so successful with Vincent, he ordered Arkainius to use Vincent to get to Dante, to kill him. The night that Arkainius and Valkin had their conversation, Vincent got wind of it, and because of it she would have to cut her goal short and leave as quickly as possible.

She knew it would eventually boil down to this situation, just not knowing the nature of what the situation would be. And so that final night, she took what she could with her and began to leave the lab. Being with Arkainius had many benefits, one of which she learned vastly about the demon realm, demonic powers, and of course the dark knight Sparda who bore two sons; Vergil and Dante. She only knew miniscule detail of what happened to the Sparda family, but she had never met Vergil let alone Dante. Vincent didn't know if Dante was good or evil, loving or cold, hateful of the Human race or vengeful. She didn't even know what he looked like. It was because of this lack of knowledge that it didn't sit well with her to think that she would be utilized as a demonic tool to kill a man she had never met. It was out of the question. She gained her powers to protect, not to murder or kill without just cause and so she had to escape no matter what.

Escape it seemed was almost near impossible. Luckily, being at the lab for so long gave her an edge. She knew every pathway and every booby trap. Escaping the lab was easy, but outside the lab was the _real problem._ She wasn't the only pet that Arkainius was trying to perfect, for he had other pets as well, demonic pets with unique abilities. She had just made it outside the entrance way when she was confronted by some of Arkainius' pets. She recognized them instantly. They were ones he was recently working on; the classic shape shifters, the kind that could shape into anything at will.

"Even demons are made of energy, and that's all that matters," she stated with a smile.

"You truly are a fool little girl," a voice echoed as Vincent looked around to try to find the source.

"The only fool here is you," she retorted.

"You think I didn't see this day coming? I knew you wouldn't oblige to my request. Your love for your precious human race is too _strong._"

Vincent scoffed as she prepared herself to be attacked, "So why'd you help me then?" she asked in sarcasm as Arkainius eagerly replied, "Because you can never escape no matter where you go. You will eventually have to come back in the condition you're in."

Vincent sighed a bit, finding the situation falling into a stalemate, "That may be, but with time my condition will strengthen and my resolve will harden."

However, as much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn't help but admit that he was right. She was _far_ from being completed in her transfusion with demon blood and leaving only partially completed could potentially be fatal if not handled delicately.

"I've dug this far, I have no problem getting my hands dirty and digging a _little more._"

Arkainius laughed, his voice suddenly heard loud and clear as she quickly spun around to find him standing behind her. She hastily backed away as the number of shape shifters began to surround her.

"Why does protecting weak beings matter to you? You are no _god._ You can't keep them alive forever. Why not simply join us instead? The demon blood will allow you to enter into the Demon Realm without consequence of it wearing on your body and soul not to mention you'll live much longer."

Vincent laughed as she replied in happy retort, "Is that you're way of _convincing_ me? You should know me well enough by now to know I would _never_ join you. Besides how is it any different on the other side? These may be demons, but even demons don't last forever. The great knight, Sparda, lived for 2000 years, but even he too fell."

Arkainius smirked as he folded his arms behind his back in a cocky type of manner as he refuted, "And where do you plan to go? If you go to your father my demons will surely follow and tell me of his location."

"What makes you think I'm going to my father?"

Arkainius' smile widened even more as he replied in assumption, "You think the devil hunter will welcome you with open arms?"

Vincent's nonchalant attitude shifted from his rhetorical question, her cocky grin fading to a solemn concern. Arkainius had a point. There was no way to know what Dante was like without risking her own safety with such a reputable man.

"The famous devil hunter of this city is not as _warm and kind_ as you may believe him to be."

Vincent merely shook her head as she replied, "I don't believe him to be anything. However, he protects this city from demons. He's saved human lives. I know _that much_ and that in and of itself speaks of its own merit, whether he's nice about it or not."

"How disappointing. Then I guess there is no further persuading you to stay," he replied.

"Good. I was wondering when you would shut up and just let me fight," she retorted.

"Mock me all you want girl, but you'll be back, I _guarantee it._"

"We'll see about that!" She chanted in a fighting spirit as the scientist disappeared into the darkness of his chambers below, leaving Vincent outside to fend for herself amongst the rather large horde of demons that now surrounded her. She was not deterred. She was ready for this as a smile creased across her face.

"Party time boys. Come on!"

The demons all launched at her in response to her taunt as she slammed her hand upon the ground and surged the energy within it outward as the ground around her flew up like a giant shield, knocking all the demons away from her. This gave her an ample chance to wield out her sword, Chaos, surged it with energy and threw it towards a demon as it pierced through and launched it at demons behind it, piercing through them as well. The energy she surged through her sword mutilated the energy within the demons it pierced, and causing them to explode. She ran quickly to her sword, grabbed it, and began to slice and dice demons that came in her path as she stabbed and slashed her way through one after another, but for as well as she was doing for her first attempt in a battle with demons, her luck quickly ran out as the demons began to learn her way of fighting. Instead of a direct attack, one of them hyper stretched a tentacle at her and latched onto one of her legs, bringing her to the ground and dragging her towards itself.

Naturally Vincent slashed the tentacle off her leg, but this proved futile as the demonic glob that was still on her leg began to move on its own. It expanded its own mass and began to cover her body.

"Shit!"

She quickly grabbed part of the glob of mass, feeling its energy within, and began to transfer its energy from itself, to inside her sword, empowering it with demonic essence as the glob's mass began to shrink. Once the glob had dissipated she quickly stood up and launched her sword into a spiraling array of death as it flew through the air like a boomerang, killing all demons that had gotten in the way of its path as it made its way around back to her hand. However, she wasn't foolish enough to let arrogance take over. She knew she had to escape and killing off another group of demons gave her just enough time to make a run for it. The demons quickly followed. She was lucky the lab resided within the underground chambers of the city so there wasn't any innocence around to be put in danger, but unfortunately it was under the very outskirts of the city where the scum of society resided. The chance of someone helping her was practically _nonexistent._ No one cared, not in that part of the city where rapists, murderers and the homeless lived.

The cries and laughter of demons echoed within the dark dim alleys as she ran endlessly until an idea struck her. Running down an alley she stopped at the end, letting the demons pile within the alley way, the tall abandoned city walls towering over her. She placed Chaos over her shoulder as she went over to a nearby wall and tapped on it gently as a large chunk of the wall crumpled to the ground. She snickered happily as she knelt upon the ground and placed her hands down, sending vibrating energetic waves that transferred from the ground to the buildings on both sides of her…

…_and the demons._

"So tell me, do any of you know what a nursery rhyme is?" she asked playfully.

The demons could only laugh in anticipation for what they were going to do next as they starred at their prey as if it were the only scrap of meat they could tear at, but all Vincent could do was smile. She found her ace up her sleeve as she began…to sing.

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down…" suddenly the ground beneath the demons began to shake as small crumbs of rubble fell on the ground from the towering walls above them. "…falling down…" the energy Vincent was sending underneath the ground was disrupting the potential energy of the fragile buildings that towered above them, and soon enough they quickly came crashing down, crushing the demons that sat below. Dust from all the rubble and boulders that had fallen upon the demons completely overtook the area, stealing any eyesight of what had happened. Satisfied that her plan worked, she stopped the energy transfer as she stood there and waited for the dust to clear. Soon enough, it cleared as she gazed upon the result of her quick thinking. She jeered mockingly.

"…London Bridge is falling down, my fair _lady._"

She then bowed as there was no movement whatsoever. It was dead silence, all of her enemies crushed in one foul swoop. She could now walk away free. Well, not without climbing a great deal first, for the mess she left behind left a rather big pile up of demon jelly and rubble at least 10 ft high. Nothing she couldn't easily climb over, but from the affects of transferring energy like that began to slowly creep onto her as her vision blurred slightly and exhaustion began to overtake her as she climbed over the mass of rubble. However, she wasn't worried, at least for now. She made it to the top of the pile and stood atop it and gazed up at the starry sky. The moon shined brilliantly on her, leaving a nicely lit street that she could still see.

"Major problem taken care of, but now I have to find a place to sleep."

She wanted to go to her father's place or a friend's at least, but for a first night on her own from escaping Arkainius, she didn't want to give any leads to those close to her. She wanted them safe and sound, so it looked like the streets would have to do for now. She looked down at the street below as she leapt off the pile of rubble. However, just when she thought things were under control, half way down into the leap her body was suddenly wrapped up quickly by a tentacle, pulled against the rubble behind her.

"Gha ah…what the hehaa…ah!"

She looked down at her side, finding a tentacle like spike pierced straight through her. Apparently one of the demons was still alive, crushed by rock and dust, but still alive.

"N-No…you…damn it!"

For all the pain she had experienced from Arkainius' experiments, she had never been pierced through the body like this before, but for as quickly as the pain had entered her body, it just as quickly dissipated from the body entering into shock. And from the pain temporarily unfelt, she took that moment to take up her sword and slice away the tentacle wrapped around her as the demon yelped, yanking herself off the piercing spike as her body crashed and tumbled down to the bottom of the rubble. The demon slowly began to squeeze its body through the rock and stone. Seeing as she didn't have much time she tried to drag herself to her feet, but the pain instantly got to her, causing her to crash to the ground once more, but if she didn't get away now, she'd be good as dead. Luckily for her, the demon was still trying to squeeze its entire being through the pile up, which gave her time to drag herself away, but the side effects of overusing her powers began to take a toll; tears of blood, exhaustion and dizziness not to mention the blood she was losing from the stab.

She heaved her lonesome body, groping along the walls to keep her balance, but at a very slow pace. Then suddenly she glanced behind her to find the demon had crept out of the rubble and began to look for her. The building she was groping along was abandoned and had an entrance to which she quickly plunged into as she hid in the shadows, waiting…hoping…the demon wouldn't find her. The blob like creature crept along eerily and slow looking and feeling everything it touched to find at least a small trace of her, but it found now. Even if the demon didn't find her at this point she would die of blood loss. She had to find help from someone…_anyone._ Help was not of abundance in this are though, being desolate and empty. If she yelled out she would be found out by the demon for sure, but if she did nothing she would die. Her vision was half gone already, so it made it even more impossible to find her way around and so she listened carefully for the slugging drag of the demon as it slithered along the ground until she couldn't hear it anymore. Once silence emitted into the air she felt it was safe enough to come out.

By that time the shock her body was in, was no more, the pain began to pile on with every move she made, but her will to survive was stronger as she finally made it to a nearby window, poking her head out and looking around. Everything was blurry and she could barely see, but she didn't hear anything nearby and saw from the little she could make out in her vision that the coast was clear as she leaned her body out of one of the exists. She looked down the street in the direction she still hadn't gone in, and there in the distance was a building, blurry, but still recognizable in shape and color, just as dark as any other, but the only difference is, it had a glowing neon sign in cursive lettering. However, it was too far away for her to read it out. It could just be a strip club or a local bar, but either way she had to go to someone and so began her onward drag towards the building with the glowing sign. Unfortunately however, she was leaving a trail of blood drippings on the ground and it wasn't long before the demon picked up trail on it. The building now was only 20 feet away as she dragged along and just when she thought she was scot free, the demon came up right behind her.

Standing in a stager she looked over her shoulder only to have a gelatinous hand grab her face, picking her up off the ground as she dangled loosely. Naturally she grasped onto the hand with both of her own, mutating the energy within it, causing the glob of mass on her face to implode on itself as she was dropped to the ground, but despite her efforts to fight back, she was at a _grave_ disadvantage being so exhausted and her vision almost completely gone at this point. The demon didn't hesitate to strike again as it morphed one of its tentacles into a sharp blade like weapon and thrust it at Vincent. She managed to spot it out just in time to dodge it from hitting a vital organ, but in doing so, she got slashed on her side just underneath her armpit, almost piercing into a rib. She gasped, coughing up blood, weakening…and dyeing.

"Hey! What the hell is going on out here?! Can't a guy get a little sleep?"

Suddenly a man in red appeared, carrying a rather large sword that was sitting peacefully, but prepared, on his shoulder. He stood rather tall above her as he kept his sights set on the demon. The moonlight from the sky shined upon his white hair as he smiled with a look of anticipation for a nightly brawl. A man in red carrying a large sword with white hair. That was the last image she saw as her eyesight gave out.


	2. Benevolence

**Benevolence**

"Hm?"

Dante looked upon the ground taking notice of the demon's prey that lay helpless, the piercing tentacle still stuck cutting into her side.

"Now, is that any way to treat a lady?"

The demon quickly took notice of Dante and relinquished its tentacle from Vincent, immediately lunging at Dante with its entire body. As quick as it was, you can't beat the speed of flying bullets as the man's guns, Ebony and Ivory rang out in unison, shooting the demon away, pumping it full of holes. It was blown to bits and crashed upon the ground, but it wasn't going to go down that easily as it merely pulled itself together, the holes within its body filled back up with its bodily goo.

"Well isn't that just _convenient,_ a regenerating demon; looks like you have some nasty friends lady."

The demon once more launched an attack of multiple tentacles, but Dante easily dodged them. However, it was at the last second the man in red realized the demon wasn't entirely aiming for him. No, it hadn't forgotten its original target as its tentacles lunged at Vincent. Dante wasn't bound to let her become a pin cushion as he shot every tentacle that came at her.

"Now, now, no touching on the first date," he stated in a casual nonchalant tone.

Somersaulting into the air and landing on top of the demon, Dante drove Rebellion inside the demon's head, if it even had one. It cried out in pain as Rebellion drove deeper and deeper within, but eventually the gooey glob swallowed it whole, knocking Dante off of itself. The devil hunter landed a couple of feet away, still holding his guns in his hands.

"Hey, you better give me my sword back. Might not be fun to digest."

The demon was no push over however as it removed Rebellion from inside its body and held it inches from Vincent's throat.

"D-Damn it," she stuttered, barely conscious as she stared grimly at the sword that was inches from her as the man in red stood afar, thinking of what he could do to help her, but something insider her snapped as a faded memory came back to her.

_"So you came to look for a way to gain power right? You came to become a demon?" Arkainius asked with intrigue. "No. I came to look for an answer. I came to gain power to protect others. But most of all I…_

Slowly she rose from the ground, the anger boiling within her.

"…refuse…" the memory still fresh in her mind on the day she met Arkainius.

_"…to become…"_

And then for the first time, a split second transformation of her devil trigger had appeared, "…A VICTIM!" She bellowed out, kneeling upon the ground with one hand upon it and the other rose towards the demon.

Dante could only watch in amazement, not expecting to see the girl transform. Her voice was morphed and her power incredible as she began to suck all the energy within the ground around her, forming an energy ball within her other hand. Aside from her power, her transformation was unlike other devil triggers. While others were strange, ugly, or dark, her devil trigger was beautiful, awe striking, and adorned with light. Her hair was pure white like snow and hovered in an antigravity type of manner. Her skin was icy blue with white tentacle type of patterns that could be seen from her ankles to her chest. A form of a skirt could be seen that was completely shrouded with blinding light energy like her hair. Her black boots were replaced with pure white leather that had icy blue stripes that matched the color of her skin. Tentacles of white, grey, and icy blue could be seen extending from her head out from underneath the hair. Emerged from her back were translucent energy like wings that glistened pearl colors similar to the ones on her body, placed above the tail that came out from her lower back, but the most striking feature of all was her eyes; they were like red flames that constantly moved and could easily hypnotize anyone whom dared to look into them.

Dante had seen many demons in his life, but no half demon with a trigger such as _this_.

With one powerful blow, she blasted a wave of energy from her hand and hit the demon with full force. It completely obliterated the demon, and it was no more. Once it was gone, so was her devil trigger and every ounce of energy she had left as she fell over to the ground once more and lied there quietly…panting…exasperated. She lay in her pool of blood from earlier, face down upon the ground with blood seeping from her eyes. She couldn't see and couldn't move, but the sense of sound was still with her as footsteps came over to her.

"Well now, that was quite a display."

She wanted to speak, but her breath escaped her as unexpected tears mixed with the tears of blood began to seep from her eyes. He looked upon the girl and could only wonder who she was and why he hadn't run into her before. He wiped away her tears and gently picked her up. The warmth from his body soothed her as she clutched his shirt slightly, nudging her head into his chest as a mere whisper could be heard.

"T-T-Thank you."

"Heh, what're thanking _me_ for? You're the one that took him out babe," Dante replied playfully. That was the last of his voice that she heard before she finally passed out.

_Sweating…panting…screams of murder echoing from a single household. Pain…anguish…Vincent's father laying in a pool of his own blood. And then…_

"DAD!" Vincent yelled as she became conscious to find her eyes covered over by a cloth wrapped around her head.

Before she had a chance to panic, Dante spoke calmly, "Wo, hey…thought you'd be out for a while considering the blood you've lost. Guess I was wrong."

She couldn't see, but she could feel the cool draft of air on her skin. She was only in her black pants and black t-shirt, socks and shoes removed and apparently laying on a soft bed. However, she felt something else as well; the warmth of a hand upon her stomach that apparently was wrapping the wound in her side. Realizing the touch she quickly grabbed his hand out of fear, scooting back quickly but stopping immediately from a jab of pain in her side.

"Nice grip you got there. Moving wouldn't be a good idea though."

His deep and gentle voice was reassuring. Feeling a bit calmer she let go of her tight grip as she scooted back down and laid silently feeling every touch, every sensation, and every ounce of pain as he cleaned her wound and put what bandages he had on it. That was just on her stomach however, as the other wound was up higher on her, just to the side of one of her breast.

"I hate to tell you this, but if I'm to patch the other wound—"

"—just…c-cut it off. Too…hard to move," Vincent replied in the midst of panting. She didn't particularly care about modesty at this point as she just wanted the pain to go away.

"Hmm, guess you could borrow one of mine."

The man left periodically and returned with a pair of scissors. Then he began to carefully cut away at her shirt making it easier to remove as he gently placed one arm under her to support her and then helped her remove the shirt with the other. However, as he held her he felt something unsettling. Her muscles shook with trepidation.

"You're trembling," he stated openly.

"I…I-I'm sorry," she replied nervously.

He could feel her pulse rate quicken and although her eyes were covered with a bandage, from the way her pants were erratic, he could tell she had shed a few tears.

"Hey, no need to be sorry. You just made my life more interesting."

She blushed suddenly. She wasn't sure if that was the man's way of lightening the mood or if he really meant his words.

"Just relax. I'm almost done."

He placed a gentle hand on her face as she at first, jerked because she couldn't see, but then the warmth from his touch helped to calm her down a bit, but before he removed his hand she put her hand on top of his. He was taken at first, not used to a woman being gentle with him.

"This…isn't too much of a bother?" She asked nervously.

"Helping a damsel in distress? _Nah._ Now let's get that other wound before it reopens."

She gulped, still trembling but mainly from being cold and shy about showing some skin since she was only in pants and a bra now, but not as if Dante wasn't enjoying it. She had a beautiful physique and nicely built as well. Her skin was smooth and although she was covered slightly in blood, she had a sensual scent. Through the pants and aches of bandaging her, he had finished cleaning up her blood as he got out one of his shirts and helped her into it. It was amusing though, seeing one of his shirts on her as he was twice her size and twice her weight, in volume that is.

"Get some rest. I'll be downstairs to attend to customers," he stated gently.

"Wait," she beckoned him. He stopped before leaving the room as he turned to face her.

"You never told me your name."

He chuckled slightly as he retorted playfully, "Neither did you."

Not wanting to be rude she immediately replied, "Vincent. Vincent Darengir."

He smirked as he replied, "Interesting name for a woman."

"It's not my real name. I use it to protect my identity…and my father's."

He let out a short exhale through his nose and shook his head, "Heh, well whatever your reason being, I find that amusing, better than being called just _Lady._"

She smiled, not really sure what he meant by the ending of his statement, but smiled nonetheless.

"Well, that's my name, what's yours?"

He turned his head back towards the door as he replied in a lower toned voice, "Dante."

He began to walk away, but then she instantly assumed in question, "A son of Sparda?"

Dante sighed, and replied rhetorically, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Silence fell upon the room as Dante returned downstairs.


	3. A New Beginning

**The next story that takes place after this is** The Hidden Essence

**A New Beginning**

From the fluctuations of her body loosing blood and trying to merge with the demon blood in her, it had left her sleeping for at least 24 hrs or more. When her body had finally woke her up, her eyes were still bandaged over, but she could tell it was day since the sense of brightness had shone through the bandages. However, from the pain in her eyes she could tell they still needed to stay closed until fully healed. As for the rest of the pain in her body, it was all gone. She sat up in bed and felt she needed a stretch because she had lain for so long. The exhaustion still lingered, finding it difficult to want to stand and the minute she inched herself off the bed was the second she fell to her knees. The thud was rather hard and rather _loud._

"Kh! Damn it. Guess he was right about needing to go back," she spouted in irritation to herself.

"Trying to escape so soon?" a voice replied playfully.

She had almost forgotten of who was taking care of her. Vincent tried to stand up, but struggled as her right side was clenched over the edge of the bed.

"You won't get anywhere like that."

Dante went over and gently lifted her to where she could sit upright on the edge of the bed as he pulled a chair nearby and sat in front of her. A brief silence fell upon the air.

"So, you think you'll be able to see now? Most of your other wounds have already healed, rather _quickly_ in fact."

She was taken by his tone at the end of his sentence. It almost sounded with suspicion. Could she blame him? She did display a nice set of _inhuman powers_ before she was even taken to his place after escaping the lab. Either that or he mistook her to be completely demon in origin, but despite his suspicion, he respected her enough not to ask questions that dug too deeply. He figured she would tell him with time.

"Once the pain resides in my eyes, I know then I'll be able to take off the bandages," she politely informed.

"Heh, that'd be nice. Then I could see what your eyes look like."

She blushed slightly for she had never gotten this much attention from a man before. Arkainius was one thing, but to be in the home of a son of Sparda? What a treat this was. She sighed however as she openly admitted, "I don't even know what you look like."

He blew back a few bangs from his eyes as he playfully responded, Well…always good to save the best for la—"

His words were cut short as he noticed her raising her hands up ever so slightly.

"—I don't need eyes to see you," she interrupted in an almost wispy gently type voice. She ever so slowly reached her hands out to the direction of his voice and then suddenly her hands were grasped by his as she stopped reaching.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"—here."

She then felt his hands guide her own to the touch of his face. Once placed he let go as she began to gently maneuver her touch around the contours of his skin. She felt his cheeks and then his lips, soft and curved. Then she gently moved her hands to his forehead, feeling the stroke of some of his hair, silky and smooth.

"Wow," she said in but a whisper.

Although sight had escaped her momentarily, she could tell that he was a good looking man from what she had felt of his face. It was warm to the touch, and smooth as well, accept for the manly stubble that sat upon his jaw line and just under his nose.

"Dante," she gently spoke his name. He then tenderly grabbed onto her hands again and slowly lowered them as her hands rested in his.

"You're pretty gentle for a demon."

She gasped audibly from his remark. Was it so _obvious?_

"I'm not…_completely_ of demon origin," she stated softly in a sigh.

"Well that makes two of us. I have to admit though, you haven't attempted to shoot me in the head, neither have you stabbed me in the chest, so that's a definite plus in my book. Maybe when you get better I'll take you on a date."

"W-What?!" she responded surprised.

"What? Never been asked out on a date before?" he asked in banter.

"Well, yeah but…I…don't you need to know more about me?"

He chuckled as he replied, "Well of course, but you can tell me all that when you're done healing. You haven't made a fuss of any kind so I'll go easy on yah."

At this point his tone had lowered into an almost sensual type of voice. It appealed to her strongly, but just before she could respond, the phone in his office downstairs began to ring as she placed her hands back in her lap, Dante standing up to go to the phone.

"Sorry to interrupt, but business beckons."

"It's okay. Not like I'm going anywhere," she replied sadly.

"Just rest some. I'll be back."

His heavy striding footsteps could be heard leaving the room as silence fell upon it once again. She sat there, still remembering the warmth of his skin, the sound of his voice, the linger of a musky scent. She wanted to see him more than anything now that she had had an idea of what he looked like. The anticipation dug at her, even if her eyes weren't fully healed yet. She _had to see him._ Inching off the bed once again, luckily not as heavily taken by exhaustion compared to her last attempt, she managed to balance herself she managed as she groped onto the side of the wall, using it to guide her way to the door. It was open as she slowly and carefully felt her steps to the first step of the stairs. Creeping down the stairs she almost tripped here and there, Dante's voice becoming a bit louder the closer she got to the bottom.

"Password…slow down, can't help yah if I can't understand yah…uh huh…sorry don't work for free…a basket of fruit? Fruit don't pay the bills. How about you treat me to pizza instead…hello? Hello? Tch, customers."

He tossed the phone to its regular place of sitting.

"Since when do you pay a man a basket of fruit to go kill some demon? What am I going to do with it, kill them to death with vitamins?"

He picked up his magazine of the month, placing his legs crossed and up on his desk, but just as he began reading he looked over the top of his magazine and noticed Vincent standing at the end of the stairs, panting slightly as she clung to the edge of the wall. He put his magazine down, and began to come towards her, figuring she would need help.

"Not very patient are you? I was just about to check on you."

He stopped mid way to her as she inched out from the wall and began to unwrap the bandages around her head. Slowly they came off and when they did she began to open her eyes for the first time to him. At first her vision was blurry and the light that hit them stung the nerves in her head with a bit of pain, but after a short time it resided from squinting and her vision became clear. He could tell she wasn't exaggerating about her eyes. They were quite red from the strain of using her powers and they were watery, watery with the color of blood, but out of all the redness in her eyes, he could pick out their color. They were like the color of his own only in a darker shade of a grayish blue. The two half demons stared at each other silently as Vincent took in his image. He was so appealing she blushed a deep red. He was quite tall, taller then she imagined him as. His hair was a silvery white, but was the softest feature from the rest of him. He was quite muscular as well and broad in the shoulders and the manly stubble she felt earlier on his face only accentuated his facial features. She whispered to herself, but you could tell her lips read _oh my god._

Dante smiled as he stated, "Heh, well thank you."

"Uh…I mean…sorry, I don't mean to stare," she quickly replied.

Vincent darted her sight away as he placed one hand on his hip and merely smirked.

"Well you have good reason to, no doubt?" he joked in a jester.

Vincent took notice as he Dante took steps towards her, her body beginning to lightly quiver as she became sensually nervous by his approach. He then stood only but a few inches from her as he lifted a hand to her face. Not expecting the movement she turned her head sharply, afraid of what he might do, but then she felt the gentle tug of his hand on her cheek, turning her eyes into his as she felt lost in them.

"So that's what your eyes look like. I've seen that color before."

She could barley restrain her sudden passion as she was taken by his gaze. She lifted her hands to meet his cheeks, cupping his face in her palms as if to keep his gaze from escaping hers. A kiss was all she desired now, but was too afraid to make the first move; afraid of pushing him away knowing it was _way to early_ to be so daring with someone she had only known for a day.

"Heh, so melodramatic."

Quickly drawn in, he passionately kissed her as he held her close, but gentle so as not to injure her more. She embraced him around the neck while his arms wrapped around her much smaller torso. From the heat of the moment she wrapped even closer to him, never wanting to let go, never wanting to forget his warm embrace, but eventually they needed a breath of air as they parted lips and looked into each other's gazes once more.

"You do this often with women you just met?"

"Only if they plan to buy me some pizza," he jested again, causing her to chuckle lightly.

"I think I could arrange that," she replied playfully, but suddenly becoming dizzy as Dante was quick to keep her from tipping over, wrapping her up in his arms.

She clung to his shirt, nuzzling her head within his warm chest as she breathed in his musk. It brought about a soothing sensation as he gently laid her down upon the couch. Leaving briefly, Dante returned with his coat and covered her to keep her warm.

"Get some rest. I have some unfinished business to take care of."

_-2 Days Later-_

Vincent was finally able to see without any pain to her head. Her eyes returned to their normal state and her wounds and scars had all healed away. After contacting her father on the phone to let him know she was okay, she sat down on the couch and asked Dante to join her. She wanted to tell him everything that he wanted to know.

"For everything you've done for me, I see it only fitting that I tell you who I am."

"Heh, well that goes without saying," he replied sarcastically as he plopped himself down on the couch next to her.

"I've lived in this city for quite some time and I'm quite aware of the demons that lurk about and some small history behind it all. And yes, I know you are a son of Sparda."

He made no reply as he listened to her intently.

"With demons running amuck, you have a choice to either do something or just become the helpless victim of circumstance. My mother was a victim…my brother was a victim…but I for one refuse to lay low anymore. About a year or so ago I found hints and rumors of a scientist by the name of Arkainius that found a way to control demonic power and mix it with the blood of humans, stabilizing it. Of course his experimentation in society was rejected for the very fact that he had used humans as testing subjects. Police went out to find him, but they were unsuccessful. However, what they didn't know was that he's not human, he's a demon. That didn't stop me and since I would be his only willing subject, I figured he'd keep me alive."

She continued explaining her back story of becoming a guinea pig, experimented on, and ultimately gaining demonic power as her short end story unfolded. When she finished, an awkward silence fell upon the hair as Dante let out a breath.

"So how does it feel to have given up your humanity?"

She was taken back by his tone as his stare sent a chill up her spine. His question was quite serious as she wasn't sure at first how to reply, but she turned her gaze back at the floor as she took in a deep breath.

"I didn't _give it up._ I merely _altered it._ _Human_ does not define who I am. It is merely a physical attribute. I'm guessing by the way you responded, that's not how you look at it. I know you don't know me or what my intentions are, but those who give up their humanity to ultimately gain power and nothing more are the ones who fail. I'm _not_ one of those people. I gained power to help others, not to hurt them. We live in a world where death is eminent everyday around every corner, nook and cranny. Can you really blame me for what I do? Can you blame me for having a desire to protect those close to me let alone myself?"

Dante let out a small sigh as he replied, "Assuming your intentions are what you say they are, no, I guess I can't blame you, but becoming something you're naturally not might have consequences you aren't expecting…or prepared to handle. Most demons can tell right away who amongst them is human and who is not. They'll hunt you down for the rest of your life because you stick out like a sore thumb. You'll have to alienate your remaining family and friends because otherwise you'll be ultimately putting them in danger. Not that it matters at this point, but did you even stop to consider that?"

Dante's advice hung in the air like a dampening mood. She completely agreed with him, but it didn't really sink in until now since for so long she was only focused on changing who she was.

"I appreciate your concern Dante, but, I don't really have any friends and the only family I have is my dad. You're right though, I can't put him in danger. I can visit him every once in a while, but I'll never be able to stay with him."

Vincent sighed heavily though, realizing that this was pretty much at an end now. She wasn't sure what to say let alone did she want to say goodbye. With the time she had spent with Dante, she was quickly falling for the man, but she could never expect him to let her stay at the shop. It wasn't his responsibility. Dante however, was appeased for now. He felt the girl was being genuine, but he was also enamored by her honesty and sincerity. She didn't feel like a threat and he didn't believe she was either. However, he couldn't ignore the sudden change of expression on her face.

"Why the long face?"

"You've done so much for me in the short time I have been here, but isn't this the part where we say goodbye?"

Dante sat back and leaned into the couch as he folded his arms and thought for a moment.

"Well let's look at the facts here. You live in the city…I live in the city…you don't plan on moving…I don't plan on moving. So if this is goodbye then that's really up to you. I don't plan on leaving. I've claimed this place as my home, so you're welcome to it any time."

Vincent gasped, surprised by his offer.

"Uh…really?!"

The devil hunter smirked and looked over at her, "Is it really that surprising?"

She blushed slightly from catching his gaze again as she replied, "No I just…I…well…just didn't want to…invade you're space. I've already overstayed my welcome. It'd only be proper for me to leave and come back another time."

Dante playfully looked up at the slowly spinning ceiling fan as he added, "If you had overstayed your welcome, trust me you would have been long gone."

She then smiled, feeling glad that she hadn't tread on anything sensitive with Dante.

"Well, I do have some things to take care of with my dad. I want to make sure he's okay. But, I can come back?"

He smirked and closed his eyes.

"You haven't shot me…you haven't stabbed me…yeah you can come back. As long as you buy me some damn pizza I'll be satisfied."

She cocked an eyebrow. She didn't understand this man's fascination with pizza.

"Pizza as my renting bill huh? Sound's fine to me. Since I have these powers, I could probably make my own money taking out demons like you do."

A gentle silence fell between the two half hearted beings as Vincent smiled and reflected upon his words. She realized that she had finally found someone whom she could trust, but also…someone to be by her side if they wanted to. She turned towards Dante and held out her hand, smiling with an almost cocky type of attitude.

"_Deal._ I pay the monthly pizza bills, assuming I get some of course, and you can be my…personal demon hunting partner."

"Sounds like a plan."

Vincent got up and stretched a bit as she made one last final reply, "Damn its late. I should head home, but I'll be back when I can. Any last requests before I go?"

Dante let out a small chuckle as he bantered at her, "Yeah, how about a date?"


End file.
